Thursday, 11 March 2010

On Wedesday 24th February, I attended the creatives careers fair in Bradford, hoping that I would be able to talk to a few businesses and swap business cards with people.

Previously when looking for a job I have talked with small business owners and offered to help out, or I have used social media to contact business owners directly and let them know who I am and what area I specialise in. The careers fair was in stark contrast to this.

As I entered The Atrium at Bradford University there seemed to be a distinct lack of 'buzz' about the room, and many of the stands were empty, which gave a negative feel to the careers fair.

As I walked round I identified a few businesses who appeared to work in the area of digital media. I approached them and talked to a few the relevant of the businesses, but the advice they were giving was very general, such as "when you have graduated send us your C.V." This left me feeling a little disconnected from these large corporations and I did not feel inspired that I would want to peruse things further.

To reflect on this day, I do not think that a careers fair would be my first avenue to use when looking for a job. However given the opportunity to go to another careers fair, if I was free on the day it was being held I would almost certainly attend, as you never know what opportunities are available or who you may meet.

If you are a university student, or someone who works in the area of digital media and you read this blog post, I would be very interested to hear from you in the comments. Please leave me any tips on strategies on gaining employment I am always looking for new and interesting way in which I can market myself.

On a side note I headed over to Bradford Media Museum after the creative careers fair and was pleasantly surprised to find they had a videos games exhibition that contained many retro arcade cabinets. As I had my dSLR camera with me I spent the rest of the afternoon practicing some photography. Pictures will be uploaded to my flickr page soon